Designs of the Week: The Hearth

The hearth is a concept that has become lost or at best fractured as microwave ovens and Trader Joe’s frozen section have replaced cooking homemade meals in the kitchen. Some claim that as ready-made foods continue to increase in quality and decrease in price, home cooking will eventually become obsolete.

Whether that’s true or not, there are few places with such strong emotional experiences attached to them as the kitchen – the smell of cooking garlic wafting through the air, the crackling sound of cutting into bread, and of course the tastes! As the holiday season is a time of year when many of us will be spending time in the kitchen hanging out with friends and family, we’ve put together a list of the some of the best-designed products out there to add warmth to the hearth experience.

Bormioli Rocco Fido Glass Canning Jars

Sometimes it’s the simple things that makes a kitchen stand out. The small accents of seeing grains, pasta, or teas give the kitchen a lived-in feel. That specific feeling is so closely associated with the kitchen that we don’t think you can have a well-designed kitchen without bringing these kinds if human touches into the picture.

Shun Classic 7-Inch Santoku Knife
The Japanese word santoku means “three virtues.” One can’t go wrong with a title like that. While the Shun knives are a little heavier than German blades, they feel more balanced and the handle has been ergonomically designed, with a ridge for your index finger to get a better grip. What really makes this design stand out is the subtle woodgrain look left on the blade.

Eva Solo Knife Magnets
Pure and simple circles do it every time. These modern stainless steel magnets come in sets of four and allow you to customize the design they make on your wall.

Stelton Cylinda-Line Coffee Pot
Who says Modernism is dead? This pot, reminiscent of a of garden watering can, has a mirror finish that will give off a beautiful reflection of your Christmas dinner.

Bodum Ceylon Iced-Tea Maker
For iced tea lovers, this is possibly the best invention ever. Unlike almost every other iced tea maker, this one allows you to use loose leaf tea! If your a tea lover, you appreciate that the best teas come without bags. It’s simple to use and makes preparing tea a very visual experience. The only flaw we’ve found so far is that, just as with one’s teeth, it’s a pain to get the tea stains out of the plastic.

This segment is a part in the series : Designs of the Week